Clutch control mechanism



H. W. PRICE ET AL July 20, 1937.

' CLUTCH CONTROL MECHANISM Original Filed Feb. 12, 1932lllllllllrlllllll gym/TOR. Mwaza M lP/C'E f mm A? Pwcz B ATTO mayPatented July '20, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcr.

CLUTCH CONTROL MECHANISM Harold W. Price and Earl R. Price, South Bend,Ind., assignors to Bendix Aviation Corporation, South Bend, 1nd., acorporation of Delaware Original application February 12, 1932, SerialNo. 592,582. -Divided and this application May 28, 1936, Serial No,82,194

4 Claims. (Cl. 192-.01)

control valve for the motor being operated by the accelerator pedal.There is also disclosed in this patent a positive connectionbetween thepedal and valve which necessitates a careful adjustment of the partswhen this control mechanism is incorporated as an accessory in a usedautomobile.

It is the principal object of this invention to avoid the difiicultiesreferred'to by providing a compact valve or control unit includingelectrical means for operating the valve in which the electrical meansis remotely controlled by a switch operated accelerator pedal. Thecontrol unit may thus be conveniently secured to a rigid part of thevehicle and the flexible lead wires run to the accelerator pedal switch,which installation is quickly effected.

A particular object of the invention is to provide an efficient controlunit for the clutch motor and to that end there is provided a one-piececasing, housing a solenoid, relay valve parts and three-way valve parts,the latter to directly control the operation of the motor. Theaforementioned elements are so constructed and arranged as to providefor an operation of the relay valve by the solenoid, which in vturncontrols the operation of the motor control valve.

A further object of the invention is to provide power means foroperating the relay valve. The power means includes a spring so arrangedwith respect to the remaining parts of the unit as to function as ameans for operatingthe threeway motor controlling valve.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide electrical means,operating on the minimum current possible, for indirectly operating athreeway motor control valve.

Other objects of the invention and desirable details of construction andcombinations of parts will become apparent from the followingdescription ofa preferred embodiment, which description is taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawin in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view disclosing the essential elements of thepower operated clutch control mechanism, and a Figures 2 and a arelongitudinal sectional m;

taken through the control unit constituting the essence of theinvention.

' Referring now to the, general arrangement of parts discloseddiagrammatically in Figure 1, there is provided aninternal-combustionengine lll'having the usual throttle l2, throttle rodl4, accelerator l6, intake manifold l8 and clutch pedal 20. At closedthrottle a vacuum of some twenty inches of mercury is induced in themanifold l8 by virtue of theii pumping action of the engine pistons.This evacuated condition of the manifold is employed to energize aclutch controlling fluid motor 22, the piston 24 of which is connectedto the clutch pedal 20 by means of a. flexible cable 26 passed over asheave 28 mounted in the end of a projection 30 extending from the motorcasing. A control valve 34 is interposed in a fluid conduit 32 andserves to interconnect the manifold l8 and fluid clutch motor 22. Thecontrol valve 34 and means for operating the same are compacted in asingle control unit designated by the reference numeral 34. Thus fardescribed the mechanism is, in a general way, similar to that disclosedin the patent to Belcia, No. 1,470,272, the instant inventionconstituting an improvement thereover.

Describing now the refinements of the present invention, the unit 34preferably comprises a one-piece casing 36, housing a solenoid 31 andaxially aligned reciprocable piston valve members 38 and 40. Valvemember 38 is bored to receive the flanged end of thevalve member 40 andis counterbored to provide a chamber 42 to receive a spring 44, thelatter abutting the end of the member 40. The solenoid 31 is energizedby the closing of a switch 46, the relatively movable parts 48 and 50 ofwhich are secured to a floorboard 52 and to the accelerator pedal l6,respectively.

mentioned vacuum is created in the manifold l8.

The accelerator pedal I6 is at this time released to thereby close theswitch 46, as disclosed in Figured. The solenoid 31 is thus energized, a

movable armature member 54 of which is drawn into a winding 56. A slot51 in the link I is so positioned with respect to the throttle l2 as to.insure a complete closing of the throttle before the switch 46 isclosed.

The armature member contacts the end of the piston valve member 40,forcingthe same to w the left tothe position disclosed in Figure 2. In

this position an opening 58 in the member 40 registers with a groove60'in the casing 36, the

groove registering with interconnected ducts 62 and 64. Duct 64registers with a port 66 in the. casing 36, which port is connected tothe manifold by the upper portion of the flexible conduit 32. The air inthe chambers defined by the bores in the valve members 38 and 40 is thendrawn out, creating a partial vacuum in said chambers. Valve member 38is then forced to the right to the position disclosed in Figure 2 byvirtue of the pressure of the atmosphere, the latter being admitted tothe casing 36 via ports 68. The spring 44 is compressed by thismovement.

The aforementioned movement of the piston valve member 38 to the rightserves to register, via a recess 10 inthe member 38, port 66 with a port12, the latter being connected to the lower section of the conduit 32.The clutch motor 22 -is thus placed in communication with the manifoldat closed throttle to evacuate the same and move the piston 24 upwardly.The clutch pedal is thus moved to disengage the clutch, as disclosed vin Figure 1.

It will be noted that such action occurs whenever the accelerator pedalis released; therefore. the clutch is automatically disengaged wheneverthe throttle is closed by the accelerator, whether the ,vehicle beparked or in motion.

Describing now the operation of the mechanism to engage the clutch,opening of the throttle by depressing the accelerator pedal serves toopen the switch 46. The solenoid 31 is thus deenergized, permitting atensioned spring 14 to withdraw the armature plunger 54. The compressedspring 44 then moves the valve member 40 to the right to register a port16 with a groove 18, the latter being vented to the atmosphere via aduct 80. Air then rushes into the bores of the valve members 38 and 40,permitting the spring 44, which has been only partially expanded, tomove the piston valve member 38 to the left, to first cut off theinterconnection of port 66 with port 12 and then register atmosphericports 68 with the port 12 via the recess 10.

Air is thus permitted to flow into the evacuated end of the clutch motor22 and permit the clutch to engage under the action of its spring. Therate of such engagement may be controlled by regulating the efllux ofair fromthe compression side of the motor, this being accomplished bythe provision of a slot 82 in a piston rod 84 and an adjustable needlevalve 86. A check valve 88 insures the clutch disengaging movement ofthe piston.

There is thus provided a very compact and effective control unit whichmay be conveniently secured to any rigid portion of the vehicle, such asthe motor casing; thereby facilitating a field installation of theclutch control mechanism on a used automobile.

Briefly reviewing the parts of the unit 34 and its several functions, itwill be seen that the ported casing 36 andrecessed piston member 38together constitute a three-way control valve for valve in one phase ofits operation. The relay valve serves to control a source of vacuumpower to operate the aforementioned three-way valve, opening the same toenergize the clutch motor. A spring interposed between theaforementioned valves serves to actuate the relay valve in the secondphase of its operation and also serves as a power means to operate theaforementioned three-way valve to close the same and deenergize theclutch operating motor.

ing application Serial No. 592,582, filed February While oneillustrative embodiment has been described, it is not our intention tolimit the scope of the invention to that particular embodiment, orotherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A fluid motor controlling valve unit comprising a casing, said casinghousing axiallyaligned reciprocable valve members and a solenoid, saidvalve members being spaced by a valve operating spring member.

2. A control unit adapted to be incorporated in a clutch controllingmechanism, said unit coma three-way reciprocable piston valve memberhoused within the other end of said valve unit and a reciprocable relayvalve member interposed between said aforementioned solenoid unit andpiston valve member, said casing being provided with ports adapted toregister with said reciprocable valve members.

4. A power clutch control valve unit compris- I 2 ing axially alignedthree-way andmrelay valves and a solenoid, the latter adapted to operatesaid relay valve, said solenoid, relay valve and threeway valve beingconstructed and arranged to be successively rendered operative.

. HAROLD W. PRICE.

EARL R. PRICE.

